How to Encourage Your Employees to Keep Cleanliness in the Workplace

By Jared Sarbit

Summary:

To keep your workplace clean, create a culture where clean is the default expectation. Set clear standards with a one-page policy, assign zones, and use daily checklists. Stock supplies where they’re needed, post signage, and train during onboarding. Make reporting easy, reward good habits, and address repeat issues. Schedule biannual deep cleans, audit monthly, and work with a reliable cleaning partner to keep standards high, even during busy periods.

Keeping the workplace clean is important because it encourages employees to be more effective and productive. From time to time, all businesses face the challenge of maintaining a clean and organized workplace.

Professional commercial cleaning services are one of the best ways to keep your workplace clean, but it also helps to have your in-house team take some responsibility for your space. In fact, it’s crucial to find ways to encourage your employees to keep things clean so you can keep providing exemplary service to clients and customers.

Let’s talk about a few ways to establish and enforce cleaning habits in the workplace.

1) Lead by Example

When leaders model cleanliness, it sets the tone for the entire workplace. Employees are far more likely to follow habits they see consistently practiced by management.

Action steps

Keep your own desk and shared areas camera-ready at all times.
Fix small messes immediately (don’t walk past them).
Call out (and thank) good behavior in the moment.
Add “2-minute reset” to the end of your daily schedule.

There are measurable benefits to setting a higher standard for cleanliness at work yourself. Remember: clean businesses make better impressions on clients and customers, as well as making you and your team more productive.

Learn More: Perception is Reality: How Cleanliness Impacts Customer Perceptions of Your Business

2) Define Standards With a One-Page Policy

Clarity eliminates confusion and excuses. A short, specific policy ensures everyone knows exactly what’s expected and how to meet those standards.

Action steps

Write specific, observable rules (e.g., “no dishes left overnight,” “trash emptied daily,” “fridge purge Fridays 4 pm”).
Include who owns what, where supplies live, and how to report issues.
Outline progressive consequences for repeat non-compliance.
Review at onboarding + quarterly; post it in kitchens, print rooms, and washrooms.

Employee helping keep office clean to maintain high standard in workplace

3) Assign Ownership By Zone (Not “Everyone, Always”)

When “everyone” is responsible, no one truly feels accountable. Assigning zones creates clear ownership and ensures all areas are consistently maintained.

Action steps

Map the workplace into zones (kitchen, meeting rooms, printers, reception, shop floor).
Assign a primary owner per zone; rotate monthly to share load.
Set a quick daily check (2–5 minutes) and a weekly reset (10–15 minutes) per zone.
Use a visible roster so coverage is obvious during PTO.

4) Build Simple Daily/Weekly Checklists

Checklists make expectations visible and repeatable. They turn “cleaning” into a short, defined process rather than a vague request.

Action steps

Daily: wipe surfaces, reset chairs, empty bins at threshold, dishes done, floors spot-swept.
Weekly: disinfect touchpoints, fridge purge, microwave/coffee descale, supply top-ups.
Add a “closeout” checklist for last one out; a “pre-meeting reset” for boardrooms.
Keep checklists to one page; laminate and hang with dry-erase tick boxes.

Keeping these lists can make it much easier to maintain even busy areas with high foot traffic. It’s an effective way to keep everyone in your workplace aware of the tasks that need to be completed, no mater how many other things are taking place.

Easily accessible cleaning products in office

5) Make Clean the Easy Choice (Supplies & Signage)

People are more likely to act if tools are within reach and instructions are obvious. Remove barriers so cleaning feels effortless.

Action steps

Place cleaning caddies where messes occur (kitchen, copy/print, shop stations).
Label everything: bins (landfill/recycle/compost), shelves, drawers, and spray bottles.
Set a restock cadence (e.g., Tuesdays) with one named person responsible.
Post quick visual guides (what goes where, how to run the dishwasher, spill protocol).

6) Bake It Into Onboarding & Ongoing Training

Habits stick when they’re taught from day one and reinforced over time. New hires should learn cleaning standards alongside job skills.

Action steps

Include a 10-minute cleanliness walk-through on day one.
Demo checklists and zone responsibilities; have new hires complete one cycle.
Pair new staff with a “zone buddy” for the first month.
Refresh training after moves/renos or when audit scores dip.

7) Create Fast Reporting & Escalation

Quick reporting prevents small messes or maintenance issues from becoming big problems. Clear channels make it easy to take action.

Action steps

Set up a dedicated channel/form (e.g., “#facilities-help” or QR to a short form).
Define SLAs (e.g., spills: immediate; supply restock: 24 hours; maintenance: 72 hours).
Name a “manager on duty” for facilities each week.
Track repeats to spot problem areas and adjust policy or layout.

8) Recognize Wins & Apply Consequences Fairly

Recognition builds motivation, and fair consequences maintain standards. Both are essential to sustaining a culture of cleanliness.

Action steps

Give monthly shout-outs (gift cards, preferred parking, lunch) for high standards.
Run a rotating team challenge (best zone score over 30 days).
Let peers nominate coworkers for “clean hero” moments.
Document repeated misses and follow the policy consistently.

Employee cleaning washroom in commercial business

9) Schedule Regular Deep Cleans

Even with daily upkeep, some tasks need focused time and effort. Deep cleans refresh the workplace and catch overlooked areas.

Action steps

Book biannual whole-office/shop deep cleans; share the scope and date early.
Assign prep tasks (clear surfaces, empty fridges, cover equipment).
Decide what’s in-house vs. what a pro crew handles (carpets, high dusting, floor care).
Do a brief safety talk if chemicals/equipment are involved.

Remember: working with professionals is often useful, even if you have your own cleaning plan.

Your team needs to be able to focus on business operations, which means it’s natural for them to defer cleaning tasks when they have other work to do. And hiring dedicated in-house cleaning staff is typically much more expensive than partnering with a cleaning company who has their own equipment and experienced staff.

10) Measure & Iterate (Audit, Don’t Argue)

Regular audits keep standards from slipping and help you spot patterns. Use the data to improve processes rather than point fingers.

Action steps

Run a monthly 10-minute audit with a simple scorecard per zone (photos optional).
Review scores in an ops meeting; choose one improvement per month.
Tweak layouts (move bins/supplies closer), update signage, or adjust checklists.
Share trends so everyone sees progress (or slippage).

Spotless office cleaned by team at Picture Perfect Cleaning

Commercial Cleaning Is a Big Job (But You Don’t Have to Do It Alone)

As a business owner or property manager, you probably already have enough on your plate without adding “full-time cleaner” to your job description. But you don’t have to choose between keeping your workplace spotless and keeping operations running smoothly.

Partnering with a professional commercial cleaning company like Picture Perfect Cleaning gives you flexible support from local experts who understand your industry. We handle the cleaning to the highest standard, so your team can stay focused on what they do best. You get to focus on growing your business with the peace of mind that your premises will look pristine no matter how busy things get.

Remember that your employees are your greatest assets. Pair them with a reliable commercial cleaning company and your office will run like a well-oiled machine year-round!

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What Is In-House Cleaning Really Costing You?

Adjust the four numbers below to see your true annual in-house cleaning cost, an estimated cost range with Picture Perfect Cleaning, and what you'd save by making the switch.

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Estimates are based on average commercial cleaning rates across Alberta and typical management and coverage costs. Your actual quote depends on square footage, service frequency, facility type, and scope of work. Request a custom quote above for an exact number.

The Hidden Cost of In-House Cleaning

A wage comparison only tells part of the story. Here’s what usually gets left out:

Wages and Benefits

Payroll is usually the first number people look at when they think about cleaning costs, but it rarely tells the whole story. Supplies, equipment, manager oversight, scheduling headaches, and the inevitable sick days all add up over time. By the time you account for everything, the true cost of keeping cleaning in-house can look very different from what’s on the payroll report. That’s exactly what our cost comparison tool is designed to help you see, along with what outsourcing might save.

Supplies and Equipment

Cleaning products, paper goods, vacuums, floor machines, and the replacement parts that keep them running all add up over the course of a year. Businesses that clean in-house often buy retail-grade supplies at retail prices because they don’t have access to the commercial pricing that a cleaning company gets from its suppliers. Equipment also breaks down, and replacing a vacuum or floor buffer every few years is a cost that rarely gets planned for in advance.

Management Time

Somebody has to schedule shifts, check the quality of the work, order more supplies when they run low, and step in when something gets missed. That’s real time pulled from a manager’s actual job, and it rarely gets assigned a dollar value, even though it should. If a facilities manager or office lead spends even a few hours a week on cleaning oversight, that’s time not spent on the parts of their role that actually move the business forward.

Absenteeism and Coverage Gaps

Sick days and missed shifts are part of running any team. When they happen, the work still has to get done, which usually means paying someone else to cover the shift or accepting that some tasks will have to wait. Over the course of a year, those extra costs can become surprisingly significant. There’s another effect that’s harder to measure, too. When cleaning is inconsistent, people notice. Employees notice it, clients notice it, and visitors notice it, even if they couldn’t tell you exactly why the space feels different.

Cost Category	What It Covers
Wages & Benefits	Annual pay for in-house cleaning staff
Supplies & Equipment	Products, tools, and machine upkeep
Management Time	Hours spent scheduling and supervising
Absenteeism	Missed shifts and last-minute coverage

Why Outsourcing Often Comes Out Ahead

Once you’ve seen your own numbers, the reasons behind the gap start to make sense.

Predictable Pricing

A cleaning company quote covers labor, supplies, and equipment on a single line. You know what you’re paying before the work starts, and that number doesn’t shift because someone called in sick or a vacuum broke down. Budgeting gets easier when the cost of cleaning is a single line item rather than four separate ones scattered across payroll, supplies, and management time.

No Coverage Gaps

When a member of an in-house cleaning team calls in sick, someone on your staff has to figure out what happens next. With a professional cleaning service, that responsibility shifts to the provider. If a cleaner is unavailable, arranging a replacement is part of the service, so your team isn’t left scrambling to fill the gap.

Accountability Built In

Picture Perfect Cleaning holds COR certification and provides regular service reporting, so you can see what’s being done and when, without spending your own hours checking on it. That’s the management time most in-house teams never get back. Our team also uses EcoLogo- and Green Seal-certified products, so you’re not trading cost savings for a lower cleaning standard.

Get Your Custom Quote

Wages are only one line in what in-house cleaning actually costs. Once you add in supplies, the hours a manager spends overseeing the crew, and the gaps left by sick days, the real number is usually higher than what shows up on a payroll report and often higher than what a professional service would charge for the same work. That’s the gap the tool above is built to show you, along with what outsourcing could put back in your budget.

Our cost comparison tool gives you a reasonable estimate of what you could save by switching to a professional cleaning service, not a final number. Every building is different, and factors like your cleaning schedule, the size of your facility, and the services you need will affect the actual cost. If you’d like a more accurate quote based on your space, contact Picture Perfect Cleaning, and we’ll walk you through the options.